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Recruiting environment since the inception of the all-volunteer force; focuses on the development of the Army College Fund.

The Department of Defense has always sought a socially representative enlisted force, especially with respect to African American and Hispanic minorities. Ideally, in a democratic society a military force should be representative of the nation it defends. African American overrepresentation was a major concern during the first decade of the All-Volunteer Force (AVF), while Hispanics were underrepresented. During the 1980s black representation stabilized and Hispanics began to increase, especially with respect to enlistments. Starting in the 1990s, black representation began to decline, followed more recently by declines among Hispanics. This article examines changes in minority representation since the inception of the AVF in 1973 and argues that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have played a significant role in recent changes. Adapted from the source document.

The Department of Defense has always sought a socially representative enlisted force, especially with respect to African American and Hispanic minorities. Ideally, in a democratic society a military force should be representative of the nation it defends. African American overrepresentation was a major concern during the first decade of the All-Volunteer Force (AVF), while Hispanics were underrepresented. During the 1980s black representation stabilized and Hispanics began to increase, especially with respect to enlistments. Starting in the 1990s, black representation began to decline, followed more recently by declines among Hispanics. This article examines changes in minority representation since the inception of the AVF in 1973 and argues that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have played a significant role in recent changes.

Since the inception of the all‐volunteer force (AVF) in 1973, the U.S. military has been considered a pioneer of equal opportunity among the nation's institutions, despite its being a unique internal labor market characterized by a hierarchical structure with little lateral entry. The authors argue that this actually helped women and minorities because (1) the advancement process is both well defined and based on merit, and (2) the promotion process looks at everyone. The pay raises that accompanied the AVF made military service competitive with civilian labor market alternatives and provided women and minorities with a viable career choice. They took advantage of this freedom of choice resulting in their ever‐increasing representation at all levels of the armed forces.

Army recruiting is sensitive to fluctuations in labor market conditions. Declines in unemployment over the past several years have led to decreases in the number and quality of enlistments. The Army has several discretionary policy tools that it can use to reduce cyclical variations in recruiting. However, budget constraints and other external requirements often limit the flexibility of these tools. More recently, the recruiting outlook turned favorable for the Army, primarily due to planned reductions in end strength. These reductions imply a 20 to 30 percent drop in total enlistment requirements over the next several years compared with 1989 levels. The danger is that dramatic budget cuts will impair the manpower quality goals of recruiting. Recruiting cuts alone should not be the only means of meeting end‐strength reductions to 1995.

This paper describes the changing recruitin environment during the 15 years since the inception of the All-Volunteer Force. It describes the origins of the "dual market" strategy, which'segmented the recruiting market, and focuses on the systematic development of one of the most important recruiting policy initiatives in the 1980s—the Army College Fund. The impact of the ACF is estimated, providing empirical evidence of how significant a policy tool this was in accessing high quality enlistees into the U.S. Army.

In fiscal year (FY) 1979, the US Army had fallen some 17,000 short of its recruitment goal. Moreover, recruit quality, based on % high school graduates & trainability scores on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT), was down. However, by FY 1987, the picture had completely changed. Although recruitment goals had been met every year since FY 1979, quality steadily increased. Recruiting efforts for FY 1987 resulted in 91% high school graduates, with 67% in the upper half of the AFQT, the highest quality in the history of Army recruiting. This success has not been due to happenstance, but rather, is a direct result of management actions taken by the Army to more effectively tap a changing youth labor market. Focus here is on the complexities of the recruiting situation, & on one of the most significant factors in the turnaround -- the establishment of the Army College Fund. 1 Table, 4 Figures. Adapted from the source document.